Some pics of and comments about my new system

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #40 on:** 17 Sep 2007, 07:05 pm »

Good eye Wayne.

oakleaf · « **Reply #41 on:** 17 Sep 2007, 08:10 pm »

Quote from: slow_down on 12 Sep 2007, 09:20 pm

...the Nightingales have two sets of terminals - does it matter which I use? I tried both and could tell no difference.

In my opinion you should be blown away by the performance of this system. So this is a long shot and may be stupid, but... based on what you wrote above implies the Nightingales can be bi-amped and you do not have shorting straps between your terminal posts. (I'm not familiar with the Nightingales.) If you don't bi-amp, then the "+" posts should be shorted together as well as the "-" posts, as shown in this following example:

In bi-ampable speakers, one pair of the binding posts is linked to the woofer or woofer section of the xover, and the other pair is connected to the tweeter section of the xover. When you received the speakers there should have been gold straps that run between the two pairs of binding posts, as in the picture above.

slow_down · « **Reply #42 on:** 17 Sep 2007, 08:22 pm »

Wayne, thanks for the troubleshooting. I'll try it tonight and report back. And thanks too for the modded elpac - that thing is a beast compared to the stock ps!

oakleaf, no shot is too long here

I was just about to reply to Wayne when I saw your post. I had no clue how bi-wireable speaker terminals worked, and ended up doing it properly pretty much by an educated guess, and got confirmation of it yesterday in the general audio circle as part of my troubleshooting efforts:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=45307.0

But thanks for trying. Man, you guys are all working hard here to help me! Wish I could buy a round for the house!

I'm still experiementing with position and some other stuff, but want to listen a lot more before I post any more comments.

But one quick question, which maybe I should put on the general audio circle - are there any active audiocircle people in Chicago? I see regional circles for other parts of the country but the closest I found near Chicago was St. Louis.

Thanks again for all the help guys.

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #43 on:** 17 Sep 2007, 09:36 pm »

Quote from: slow_down on 17 Sep 2007, 08:22 pm

are there any active audiocircle people in Chicago?

"Gooberdude" is in Chicago.

EDIT: By the way, JohnR is open to suggestions for new circles. Maybe it's time for a "Chi Town Circle"?
You could be the moderator.

Bob

KCI-JohnP · « **Reply #44 on:** 17 Sep 2007, 09:48 pm »

Nice looking system there!

I haven't read the entire thread yet so I'm sure someone has already mentioned this but if you threw a rug down in front of those speakers it could help improve your sound quality. Good ole Home Depot has some pretty good ones for not much $$. Just a thought...

Regards,
John

slow_down · « **Reply #45 on:** 17 Sep 2007, 11:42 pm »

Just got home and tried a powerstrip with all three components plugged into it. Buzz. Tried plugging the powerstrip into a different outlet. Still got a buzz. Plugged a cheater plug into the powerstrip's cord, and the buzz disappeared. Oh well, thanks for trying Wayne!

Also, I posted my floorplan on the acoustics circle and have gotten some interesting comments there. I think at the very least I will be buying two large area rugs in the near future - that's something I wanted to do for awhile anyway. Curtains are a little tricker and will take more time to reach the right balance of looks and practicality.

pm314 · « **Reply #46 on:** 17 Sep 2007, 11:51 pm »

Quote from: slow_down on 17 Sep 2007, 08:22 pm

Wayne, thanks for the troubleshooting. I'll try it tonight and report back. And thanks too for the modded elpac - that thing is a beast compared to the stock ps!

oakleaf, no shot is too long here I was just about to reply to Wayne when I saw your post. I had no clue how bi-wireable speaker terminals worked, and ended up doing it properly pretty much by an educated guess, and got confirmation of it yesterday in the general audio circle as part of my troubleshooting efforts:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=45307.0

But thanks for trying. Man, you guys are all working hard here to help me! Wish I could buy a round for the house!

I'm still experiementing with position and some other stuff, but want to listen a lot more before I post any more comments.

But one quick question, which maybe I should put on the general audio circle - are there any active audiocircle people in Chicago? I see regional circles for other parts of the country but the closest I found near Chicago was St. Louis.

Thanks again for all the help guys.

Hi slow_down, I'm in Chicago but dont have very much time to devote to listening (or posting). I have first, third and fourth graders so spend waaay too much time with homework (with background music of course

). I would try to follow and contribute to a chicago circle if available.

St_PatGuy · « **Reply #47 on:** 18 Sep 2007, 12:07 am »

Quote from: jose on 17 Sep 2007, 03:33 pm

slow_down,

St_Pat Guy, I haven't yet heard the Epiphony II, but I am quite familiar with the Epiphony I, the Nightingales, and the Loreleis. As much as I like the Epiphonies (I own two pairs, and I am not parting with them any time soon) the Nightingales are many notches above.

Jose

After going from the Epiphony I to Loreleis, I can only imagine how nice those Nightingales are if their sound falls somewhere between. Like you, I can't see myself parting with those little guys yet. In fact, I'm using one as a center channel between the Loreleis. It's tempting, though, to get an Epiphony II--the cabinet is like a mini-Lorelei. It'd be a nice match across the front.

jose · « **Reply #48 on:** 18 Sep 2007, 03:04 am »

slow_down,

I forgot to add that, in my opinion, the Nightingales sound better with the grilles on.

Enjoy your superb system!

Jose

TjMV3 · « **Reply #49 on:** 21 Sep 2007, 02:59 pm »

Quote from: slow_down on 17 Sep 2007, 11:42 pm

Just got home and tried a powerstrip with all three components plugged into it. Buzz. Tried plugging the powerstrip into a different outlet. Still got a buzz. Plugged a cheater plug into the powerstrip's cord, and the buzz disappeared. Oh well, thanks for trying Wayne!

Also, I posted my floorplan on the acoustics circle and have gotten some interesting comments there. I think at the very least I will be buying two large area rugs in the near future - that's something I wanted to do for awhile anyway. Curtains are a little tricker and will take more time to reach the right balance of looks and practicality.

Did you move the Nightingales back closer to the backwall, yet?

slow_down · « **Reply #50 on:** 21 Sep 2007, 04:28 pm »

Quote from: TjMV3 on 21 Sep 2007, 02:59 pm

Did you move the Nightingales back closer to the backwall, yet?

Yep, and I think it helped. Here are some pics I posted on a thread I started in the acoustics circle that show how everything is now.

floorplan

Front portion of left wall (all windows) and front (more windows):

Rear portion of the left wall (it's L shaped):

Front portion of my right wall:

Rear portion of right wall

Back Wall:

I'm getting some pretty harsh criticism of my room in the acoustics circle, with a number of people stating or implying that it's pretty much an impossible room without a tremendous amount of treatment, but I'm not ready to give up. I'm gonna get curtains and two big area rugs. I might also try placing the speakers alongside my TV.

mcullinan · « **Reply #51 on:** 21 Sep 2007, 04:30 pm »

How about a giant rug wall tapestry?
Mike

slow_down · « **Reply #52 on:** 21 Sep 2007, 08:14 pm »

Quote from: mcullinan on 21 Sep 2007, 04:30 pm

How about a giant rug wall tapestry?
Mike

I am absolutely open to that. I'd be fine putting something like that up on the wall space above my sofa or the side table by the stereo or even the wall space behid and above the TV.

And I'm gonna try moving the stereo and speakers to by my TV tonight and see if that is a better location.

bpape · « **Reply #53 on:** 21 Sep 2007, 08:17 pm »

To tame upper mid and high frequency echo and slap, a tapestry can help a little. Get something as thick as you can. Just understand it's not going to do much from the upper vocal range down. It can absolutely be a piece of the solution though. Same thing for the rug on the floor between you and the speakers which I consider essential in a room with hard floors.

Bryan

Charles Calkins · « **Reply #54 on:** 21 Sep 2007, 10:09 pm »

Bryan:

Who da house keeper????

Cheers
Charlie

slow_down · « **Reply #55 on:** 24 Sep 2007, 10:50 pm »

I relocated the whole setup this weekend to a different area in the living room and achieved a major improvement in sound. Still a little lean for my tastes but overall much, much better than before.

So then I started experimenting with a subwoofer, both through a new home theater receiver's pre-outs and directly through the Khartago (using the sub's crossover). My sub is budget level, but I gotta tell you, after some tweaking with crossover and volume, I was in audio nirvana. For the first time, I was able to sit back and truly enjoy listening in a way I hadn't been able to as of yet.

St_PatGuy · « **Reply #56 on:** 24 Sep 2007, 11:54 pm »

Hey, congrats, slow_down! Glad to see a payoff after all the tweaking and fretting. Enjoying the music--that's what it's all about.

bpape · « **Reply #57 on:** 25 Sep 2007, 12:55 am »

Good deal.

Now you see how important the room and spending a lot of time making minor changes can be. Setup is everything. Give me a $3k system well set up in a properly treated and reasonable space over a $20k system in a 'challenged' room and just set where it looks like it ought to be.

You'll probably continue to make very small adjustments for a few weeks as you get used to things.

Bryan

slow_down · « **Reply #58 on:** 9 Feb 2008, 07:52 pm »

After a six page discussion thread centered mostly on my initial dissatisfaction with my "budget" Odyssey system, seems a good idea to give an update.

I started two long discussion threads in this circle and the acoustics circle, trying to figure out why it sounded "wrong" to my ears. Was it my room? Did I choose wrong speakers for my ears and location? Did I get a lemon?

Nope to all. The short answer is break-in has changed everything. Early on I switched the used Tempest for a new Etesian (for various reasons not worth getting into), and then gave it time to break in. Took awhile because I only played it 5-7 hours a week on average. But one day it seemed to sound much better. Some more time passed, and then it sounded a LOT better.

Now, five months into ownership, I am flabbergasted by how good it sounds. No need for a subwoofer. Ample bass to please and some left over. The sound is pleasing and alive. I feel like I could listen for hours on end without getting tired of it, and there is an energy I've never felt listening to music at home before. It's awesome.

So consider me a happy camper.

St_PatGuy · « **Reply #59 on:** 9 Feb 2008, 08:16 pm »

That's good news, slow_down! It took me quite some time to realize just how good a well-balanced system is. I reread your initial post and see that you used to listen on an HT system with a sub. While fun and powerful, the big bass can be overwhelming and tiring to some extent. It seems like a major loss in oomph going to a two-channel system sans sub, but the overall musical picture comes into better focus. Yeah, it takes time to realize the subtle details you can hear without the bass drowning everything out.